General News
28 October, 2021
Shire proud of annual report achievements
A SENSE of pride filled the Mareeba Shire Council’s Chamber last week as the organisation ticked off its 2020-21 Annual Report.
Mayor Angela Toppin said she was “very proud” to endorse the report which reflected a challenging year as the shire coped with the impacts of COVID-19 and did what it could to stimulate the economy whilst remaining “financially sustainable”.
“The stimulus money that the State and Federal Governments provided was a welcome economic injection and resulted in council being able to deliver a range of additional capital works across the region,” she said.
Projects completed included the construction of a new animal management facility, the completion of the Cedric Davies Community Hub and relocation of the Mareeba Library, and the construction of a new water reservoir, bore and pipeline at Chillagoe.
Cr Toppin described council’s financial performance as “pleasing”, noting that the organisation was financially sustainable and was in the 30% of councils in Queensland who did not spend more than it earned.
“In fact, we have not incurred operation losses since de-amalgamating in 2014,” she said.
The sentiment was echoed by many of the Councillors.
“Growing, confident and a sustainable shire and I am very proud to be part of it,” Cr Locky Benstead said.
Cr Mary Graham acknowledged that the council had been prepared to take some “hard decisions” which had contributed to the good result.
Council hit all the right marks when it came to its financial status, evidenced in the Queensland Audit Report which gave the council a “clean audit” and noted there were no significant issues.
During the meeting, the Mayor and Councillors took time to particularly compliment the staff for their professionalism and hard work.
“All our staff work really hard to achieve the goals of the Council and the community,” Deputy Mayor Cr Kevin Davies said.
Other highlights of the year included the detailed review of council’s drinking water schemes, the beautification of Byrnes Street, the purchase of land for Kuranda Cemetery, and a roof replacement at Mareeba Leagues Club.
ANNUAL REPORT SNAPSHOT
Waste disposed at Mareeba landfill – 55,640 tonnes
Recyclable materials collected – 23,720 tonnes
Dwelling approvals – 209
Planning Developing applications – 54
Value of residential approvals - $49.1 million
Value of non-residential approvals - $15.4 million
Total of building approvals – 429
Swimming pool admissions – 42,881
Land sales at Mareeba Industrial Park - $261,579
Council website visits – 110,250
Visitor Information Centre visitors – 90,120
Community Grants - $198,307
Regional Arts Development Fund Grants - $44,670
Solar – 9 buildings fitted with solar
Fire breaks – 96km provided
Controlled Burns – 22 hectares
Road renewals and upgrades - $6.9 million
Water infrastructure - $4 million
Wastewater infrastructure - $5.1 million
Community assets and facilities - $4 million
Land and pest management - $545,000
Debt owed - $7.7 million
